Spike.



PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905.

S. W. HIGGINS.

SPIKE APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 30. 1904.

VIITNESSES.

.dtlorneys.

UNITED STATES Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT FFICE.

SYLVESTER W. HIGGINS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO- THIRDS TO OORYDON O. RANDALL, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SPIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,858, dated January 3, 1905.

Application filed January 30,1904- Serial No. 191,268.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYLvEsrnR W. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spikes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This improvement relates more particularly to railway-spikes, and has for its object to make a spike especially adapted for use in ties of cedar and other soft wood; and the invention consists in the peculiar construction of the shank of the spike, whereby the holding quality of the spike is greatly increased, all as more fully hereinafter described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved spike. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same with its middle portion broken out and shown in cross-section. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation with its middle portion broken out and shown in cross-section. Fig. 4 is an end elevation looking at the point of the spike. cross-section on line in m, Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the shank, showing the same embedded in a tie to illustrate its action on the wood.

A is the head of the spike, formed in a known manner, and I3 is the shank. This shank for a portion of its length immediately below the head forms a solid neck portion a of substantially trapezoidal cross-section, of which the inclined sides Z) 0 form the sides of the shank, while the parallel sides d a form the back and front sides of the same, respectively, the front side, which is the one turned toward the rail in driving, being the narrower, while the sides (Z Z) 0 are substantially of the same width. The body of the shank below this neck is formed plain upon two sides, which sides are continnations ofthe sides I) and 0 of the neck, and

channeled upon the other two sides, forming- Fig. 5 is a nel f contracts gradually and runs to a point. The rear side of the shank has two smaller V- shaped channels 6 76, extending side by side, the inner and outer sides of which meet each other and meet the sidesb and c of the shank,

respectively, to form the three cutting edges Z,

m, and at. These channels also contract gradually toward their upper ends and run to a point. By channeling the shank in this manner the cross-section of the channeled portion is somewhat like a W formed with sharp angles and with the material about evenly distributed on each side of a medium plane extending parallel with the ,planes d and 6, within which planes the cutting edges formed by the channels lie, and at its lower end the shank is formed with a chisel-shaped point which terminates in a cutting edge 0, located in the aforesaid median plane. As indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, the bottoms of the channels i 7: are substantially in the median plane, while the channel f preferably enters to a greater depth. This gives the spike, in connection with the greater width across the back, a tendency to hug the rail without the necessity of coaxing in driving, as is necessary with most spikes.

A spike of this construction has great stiffness with a minimum of weight, and in driving the point will enter very readily, since the wood suffers but little displacement, and at the same time the sharp salient portions formed by the channels act as efficient wedges to compact the severed ends of the fibers into the channels and give the spike a firm hold and support in the Wood and also prevent the formation of cracks, which would cause the tie to quickly rot.

. When, as frequently happens, the spike is carelessly or unskilfully driven into the tie, it is prevented from wabbling in its hole while being driven by the many faces and facets of its shank, which assist in guiding the same, and also by the wood which firmly wedges into the channels, and when drivenhome the neck portion will tightly plug up the hole, thus excluding all water and preventing decay, which is the main reason spikes hold but a short time in soft wood. The channel on one side extends beyond the bottom of the channels on the other side, so as to increase the frictional contact-surface, and when the spike is driven into the wood the latter is firmly compressed in three different planes, with the bases of the compressed portions-that is, the apeXes of the portions confined in the channels-extending past each other, and thus the spike is more firmly held in the wood.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is A spike having a shank of trapezoidal outline in cross-section with its inclined sides extending throughout its length, and formed solid within said outline for a short portion below the head of the spike and having its remaining body portion gradually reduced Within said trapezoidal outline to a substantially W-shaped cross-section by means of a single V-shaped channel the sides of which form the front face of the shank and meet the sides of the shank to form wedgeshaped cutting edges and by means of two V-shaped channels the inner and outer sides of which form the back of the shank and meet each other and the sides of the shank, respectively, to form three wedge-shaped cutting edges, the channel on one side extended inward beyond the bottoms of the channels on the other side.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SYLVESTER W. HIGGINS. Witnesses:

L. B. SMITH,

FRED L. WVINTER. 

